Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1987, Page 34

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SANDOYARBÓK
Informants from Skálavík and Dalur
Numberof Adult Placeof Yearof
Ballads
Thomas Hansen 4
Poul Pedersen 2
HansJakobsen 1
Joen Danielsen 1
Susanna Jensdatter 1
Sunnevad Joensdatter 1
Lauridz Olesen 2
he managed to collect »Tormaður skald«
(CCF 27) from Danielsen less than three
months afterward. Several years later,
Clemensen recorded texts from Daniels-
en’s niece by marriage, Susanna Jensdatt-
er, and from his daughter, Sunnevad Joens-
datter, who had by this time married and
moved to Skarvanes.26
When collecting from out-of-towners,
Clemensen went after texts that would
supplement those familiar to him from his
own village. Thus, »Sandoyarbók« must be
a very fragmentary record of the ballad tra-
ditions of other communities in the parish.
An idea of just how fragmentary this re-
cord is can be gained from some notations
in the journal of a Danish natural scientist
J.G. Forchhammer, who passed through
Skálavík in the summer of 1821. Forch-
hammer, probably inspired by the example
of Lyngbye, wished not only to collect data
about Faroese nature, but also to record in-
formation about the islands’ ballad tradi-
tion. When he asked people in Skálavík
whether they knew any songs about the
legendary Sigurd or other ancient heroes,
Residence Birth Birth
Skálavík Skálavík 1782
Skálavík Skálavík 1781
Skálavík Skálavík 1787
Skálavík Skálavík 1758
Skálavík Skálavík 1790
Skarvanes Skálavík 1796
Dalur Dalur 1779
they served him up Joen Danielsen as their
local expert in these matters. Danielsen
proceeded to perform for Forchhammer
the first section of »Sjúrðar kvæði« and the
entire text of »Grímur á Bretlandi« (CCF
53), as well as listing the titles of eighteen
other ballads that he knew.27 We know all
but one of these texts from »Sandoyarbók«,
where they for the most part were collected
from residents of Sandur. We also know
Joen Danielsen from »Sandoyarbók«, but
as the singer of »Tormaður skald« (CCF
27), a ballad for some reason not listed by
the singer for Forchhammer on that July
day in 1821.
Conclusion
Church and government records from the
early nineteenth century have much to tell
us about »Sandoyarbók«; its collector, Jo-
hannes Clemensen; and the community
from which he collected. Although Clem-
ensen names in his postscript to the collec-
tion several Faroese officials as the mo-